I'll Be Home for Christmas
by ilovetvalot
Summary: Written with prompts provided by Francesca Passarella and Marauder-In-Disguise on Facebook. It's a Rossi/Prentiss Christmas when Emily decides what, and who, are important to her.


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**_A special note to my readers...as Christmas draws nearer, so does my husband's return from the war zone in Afghanistan. This said, posts will be slowing DRAMATICALLY after the holiday. Bear with me. Slower updates are expected to last approximately a month. But, real life and a family reconnection will take precedence. I'm sure you all understand. But, take heart, a happy hubby makes an energetic writer._**

**_And as always, thanks to our readers! Your reviews and alerts make our day and we love hearing from you! We don't own a thing, but we sure wish we did._**

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_**Author's Note 2 - Thank you so much to Francesca Zicky Passarella and Marauder-In-Disguise for these wonderful holiday prompts via Facebook: Wrapping gifts, buying gifts for Henry and Jack, a blocked airport on Christmas Eve, How the Grinch Stole Christmas , Christmas candle, and eggnog.**_

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**I'll Be Home for Christmas**

Pausing outside the partially open door of her significant other's office, Emily Prentiss stifled a laugh with her fist. Based on the muffled curses emanating from within, The Grinch was definitely intent on stealing what was left of David Rossi's barely-there Christmas spirit. Peering inside, she felt another bubble of amusement threatening to escape as she watched him wrestle with the bulky gifts they'd chosen for Henry and Jack.

It was clearly obvious that he had definite issues with the reindeer wrapping paper. And she was pretty certain that the paper was going to win the battle.

"You know," Emily drawled from the doorway, her lips twitching even as she tried her damnedest to keep a straight face, "You're supposed to wrap those, not strangle them with scotch tape. The boys would probably like playing with them sometime before the New Year."

Looking over his shoulder, Dave blinked as he registered that Emily was standing in his doorway. Cocking his head, he demanded, "Aren't you supposed to be on a plane to Borneo to see your mom?"

"Bangladesh," Emily corrected easily as she held back the chuckle that was threatening to escape.

"Close enough," Dave grunted as he tried to dislodge his sticky fingers from the cellophane paper. "Aren't you supposed to be in the sky by now?" he asked grumpily, still smarting over the fact that she'd caved to the Ambassador's demand to attend the festivities at the embassy rather than spend their first Christmas together.

"Yes, you know I was. Small problem with that plan, though," she sighed, sliding into his office and closing the door behind her. "You're still angry with me, huh?" she asked morosely, dodging the various gifts littering the floor of his office.

"No, I can't still be anything since I never once paused in my displeasure, Prentiss. I've always been angry about your decision to go. My only question is why you aren't on that plane," he muttered, grimacing as the Scotch tape stuck to his fingers. Again.

"I'm not on the plane because of the winter storm that just blew into the area. Every flight out has been grounded," she explained, reaching for his hand so that she could disentangle his fingers. "So, you get me for the holidays after all. I've already called my mother."

Arching his eyebrows in surprise, Dave glanced at the woman beside him. "She didn't offer to have the Air Force personally show up and escort her daughter to her side?" he mocked bitterly, unwilling to release the anger he still felt even though his heart was thrilled to see her safe and sound beside him.

"Actually, she did make some kind of noise of that nature. And, I told her that I was going to interpret this as a sign from God that I was staying exactly where I was supposed to be all along. I should never have agreed to the stupid trip in the first place, Dave," she admitted softly, flashing him an apologetic look. "It's just...you don't know my mother," she shook her head with a wince.

"I know her well enough," Dave retorted, heaving a relieved sigh as she finally got his fingers released from the tape. "That woman has made guilt into an art form. And you fall for it. Every. Time," he accused, his words clipped as he shifted against his oriental rug.

"Not this time," Emily countered quietly. Her mother might hold the monopoly on guilt, but she was fairly certain the man she'd fallen in love with was a very close runner-up. Lucky her.

"Because of Mother Nature. Not because of me," he grumbled under his breath, frowning as he looked around the floor for another gift to wrap. "Hand me that candle," he growled, gesturing at the peppermint scented candle in a glass they'd chosen for JJ.

Reaching for the heavy glass candle, Emily passed it to the man beside her. "I'm sorry," Emily apologized softly. "But," she said, slowly pulling her airline ticket from her pocket and passing it to her agitated lover, "the flight was actually canceled while I was standing in line doing this."

Glancing down at the folded ticket in her hand, he squinted down at the small type. "Rescheduled flight," he read aloud, cursing his need for the glasses he hated to wear. Looking up at her as he comprehended those blurry words, his eyebrows furrowed. "You were rescheduling your flight?"

Nodding, Emily swallowed. "I planned on being home for Christmas all along. When I got to the terminal and looked around at all the travelers, I realized that the only place I wanted to be going was home to you. Not half way around the world to spend a holiday with a bunch of strangers. With. You."

"You chose me," he said softly as his craggy face softened, his words a statement rather than a question. Face softening, his lips tilted into a crooked half-smile.

"And I had chosen you before the flight was canceled," she clarified, tapping the ticket with her index finger meaningfully, "So, it counts double." Leaning forward on her hands, she grinned, her lips hovering a breath away from his, "So, my gift better be really, really good this year, Santa."

Wrapping his arms around her narrow waist, Dave pulled her into his lap as he leaned back against his desk. "And have you been naughty or nice this year, Emily?" he asked, nuzzling the hollow of her neck, the subtle scent of jasmine teasing his nose, reminding him that she was really here and in his arms instead of a figment of his imagination.

"Well," she giggled as his goatee tickled her sensitive skin, "I've been very good at being bad. Does that count?"

"It all counts, cara," Dave rumbled against her cheek, brushing a kiss against her jaw as she snuggled against him amid the colorful wrapping paper and presents surrounding them. "And Santa can guarantee that there will be a very nice gift waiting for you Christmas morning," he added as he smiled, his mind already envisioning the surprise the diamond engagement ring nestled in his bedside drawer would offer her Christmas morning.

Them snuggled in his large bed with a glass of spiked eggnog...the light glinting off the ring he'd give her...the vision was now a promise rather than a dream.

"Can he?" Emily asked warmly, settling in his arms and reveling in the feeling of joy overwhelming her. "And what would Santa like this year?" she asked, nestling her forehead against his neck as her fingers toyed with the button of his shirt.

"His gift came early," Dave murmured, burying his nose in her soft black hair. "All I wanted for Christmas was you."

And she was without a doubt the best gift he'd ever received.

**Finis**

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**So, there is my contribution to a Rossi/Prentiss Christmas. Enjoy it?**


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